Vote shaming is a scam

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April 18, 2020 8:29 PM

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The departure of Bernie Sanders from the Presidential primary has triggered a new wave of something I call Trump-era vote shaming. Embodied by moderate Democrats and some further left media figures, the phenomenon consists of scolding people on Twitter who are planning on not voting. The progressive commentator Mehdi Hasan has been in the midst of a multi-day Twitter meltdown over the nessecity of leftists voting for Joe Biden specifically and every Democratic candidate more broadly. In a protracted debate with leftist podcaster Kyle Kulinski, Mehdi repeatedly denounced Biden while maintaining “if you’re ok with a white nationalist winning a second term [by not voting], I question your “left-wing” credentials”.

Kulinski—who is in the middle of his own multi day meltdown about not voting—responded, “If you support a corrupt war criminal rapist for president (Biden) then I question your left wing credentials as well.”

According to Mehdi’s Twitter bio, he lives in Washington DC, one of the more comfortably blue voting areas in the country. It’s actually right up there with New York in terms of a safe Biden state, which is where Kulinski lives.

I point this out to underline that it doesn’t fucking matter who Mehdi Hasan or Kyle Kulinski votes for. Nor does it matter for the vast, vast, VAST, majority of people fighting the pro-or-anti-vote fight online, who generally live in blue districts.

The people who don’t vote are low information voters. They are not reading your political Twitter account. You are not making a difference by scolding the New York leftie who is proudly not voting on Twitter, who is also being a dumb-dumb by acting like his lack of a vote in some district in Brooklyn matters.

This is all empty posturing and it’s exhausting and no one should care.

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Vote shaming is a scam

The departure of Bernie Sanders from the Presidential primary has triggered a new wave of something I call Trump-era vote shaming. Embodied by moderate Democrats and some further left media figures, the phenomenon consists of scolding people on Twitter who are planning on not voting. The progressive commentator Mehdi Hasan has been in the midst of a multi-day Twitter meltdown over the nessecity of leftists voting for Joe Biden specifically and every Democratic candidate more broadly. In a protracted debate with leftist podcaster Kyle Kulinski, Mehdi repeatedly denounced Biden while maintaining “if you’re ok with a white nationalist winning a second term [by not voting], I question your “left-wing” credentials”.

Kulinski—who is in the middle of his own multi day meltdown about not voting—responded, “If you support a corrupt war criminal rapist for president (Biden) then I question your left wing credentials as well.”

According to Mehdi’s Twitter bio, he lives in Washington DC, one of the more comfortably blue voting areas in the country. It’s actually right up there with New York in terms of a safe Biden state, which is where Kulinski lives.

I point this out to underline that it doesn’t fucking matter who Mehdi Hasan or Kyle Kulinski votes for. Nor does it matter for the vast, vast, VAST, majority of people fighting the pro-or-anti-vote fight online, who generally live in blue districts.

The people who don’t vote are low information voters. They are not reading your political Twitter account. You are not making a difference by scolding the New York leftie who is proudly not voting on Twitter, who is also being a dumb-dumb by acting like his lack of a vote in some district in Brooklyn matters.

This is all empty posturing and it’s exhausting and no one should care.